What Future and Migos Tell Us About Atlanta’s Rap Dominance

Future performed in Austin, Tex., last year. The rapper could top the charts with two different albums two weeks in a row.CreditTamir Kalifa for The New York Times

By The New York Times

March 3, 2017

The Popcast is hosted by Jon Caramanica, a pop music critic for The New York Times. It covers the latest in pop music criticism, trends and news.

If someone were looking to understand pop music only through the chart successes of 2017 to date, it would seem that the only thing that matters is Atlanta. Future is in the midst of debuting two consecutive albums at the top of the Billboard album chart, and Migos recently topped the Billboard singles chart with “Bad and Boujee.”

That this would be the case was never a given — Atlanta has been the most consistently innovative city in hip-hop for many years, but hasn’t always played nice with the genre’s mainstream. But now that the Billboard chart accounting better reflects the effect of the internet (streaming numbers are figured into what used to be sales tallies), Atlanta’s dominance is clear as day. And Atlanta moves fast. Behind Future and Migos are artists like Lil Yachty, 21 Savage and the up-and-comer SahBabii, whose “Pull Up Wit Ah Stick” is on its way to anthem status.

On this week’s Atlanta-centric Popcast, Mr. Caramanica is joined by The New York Times pop music reporter Joe Coscarelli, who interviewed Migos the week they ascended to the top of the Billboard chart, and Naomi Zeichner, editor in chief of the Fader and a Georgia native.